How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

An Atheist friend of mine on the Internet said this:

The basic logic behind the Bible's New Testament.... create a test you know everyone will fail, and then a fix for it to make everyone feel guilty about failing. “I better send myself down there so they can murder me. That way, I won’t have to send everyone to the hell I created.”

There is a contemporary song written by Stuart Townend that has been playing in my head a lot today.  One stanza in particular got me thinking, it says, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His Only Son, to make a wretch His treasure.”

So I thought it would be rewarding to delve into this.  Just how deep is the Father’s love for us?

I John 3:1a

¹Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:

I John 3:16a Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us:

I John 4:7-13 ⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. ⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ⁹In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. ¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

Scripture tells us not merely that God loves, but that He is love.  If God loves and in fact is love, He necessarily loves perfectly—infinitely.  We might define perfection as that state than which there can be nothing greater or better. 

So then, what does perfect love look like?  Perfect love requires an object.  To be said to have love, one must love someone or something.  How could it be possible to love nothing?
Now imagine loving someone who does not love you in return.  Can you imagine something greater?  Certainly.  You can imagine loving someone who loves you in return!  This is obviously better. 

In this way we see that for God to be perfectly or infinitely loving, He would need to express that love, but not in the way that a child might love a Teddy Bear—with love that is not returned.  Perfect love would need to be expressed to someone with the capacity to love in return.  First John 4:12 points us in this direction, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Someone might argue that God could then simply have created beings who love Him by their nature; beings who love Him because they are created for that purpose; who must love Him.  This line of thought would be flawed however, because again we can imagine something better than loving someone who is forced to love us in return.  Loving someone who loves us in return because they choose to love us of their own free will would be immeasurably better.  Think of a time when someone has shown you love for no particular reason.

For this reason, God created us with freedom of will, as free moral agents.  Within our temporal existence, we are free to love God, or not.  That’s incredible, and it’s very good news.

In the perfection of God’s love there is no error; no mistake; no neurotic need fulfillment.  That is perhaps a strange idea to suggest in talking about God—and it should be.  I add it here to make the point that God has not acted in love toward us out of some codependency or because of some emotional need on His part.  God acted toward us as He did because He truly and perfectly loves us.

In Genesis 1:27 we read, “²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

This is a supreme act of love.  We can read the remainder of the creation account and nowhere else do we see that He loved anything else in creation enough to create it in His image.  He said that each thing was good, yet only we are created in the very image of God Himself.

Ephesians 1:4-5a

⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself…

He created us to love us, and in the hope that we would love Him in return.  He did this even though He knew that we would turn away from Him, and because He knew that, He made a plan of redemption and reconciliation for us before the foundation of the world!

Ephesians 3:14-19

¹⁴For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; ¹⁷That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; ¹⁹And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

When we really grab hold of this Truth that God Loves us, when we know it to the level of being rooted and grounded in it, we become able to understand the scope and magnitude of the love of Christ—which passes knowledge!.

Our value does not come from possessions-what we have, social status-who we know, or financial net worth.  So we do not need to compare ourselves with others to see if we measure up.

Our value does not come from our actions, how we behave, so we do not need to feel guilty and get depressed when we do things that we know are not Christ-like.

Our value does not come from what we know, so we do not need to feel inadequate or unqualified to use the gifts God has given us.

I Corinthians 4:7 says, “⁷For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

Our value does not come from anything we have done.  Our value comes from the fact that God created us in His own image so that He could love us!  Who or what could possibly have more value?

And God loves all people just as much as He loves you and me!  So there is no room for us to be judgmental.  We have nothing but what God gave us.  We are nothing, but what God says we are. 

Acts 10:34-35

³⁴Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: ³⁵But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. 

We do not need to worry about whether the things that others are doing are “right” or not.  In the same way, we do not need to worry about whether others think what we are doing is “right” or not.  This is what Paul was saying in I Corinthians 4:3

“³But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.”

And in Romans 14:4

“⁴Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”

There is something I’m sure you’ve noticed as your faith has increased and as you have become closer to the Lord and have matured.  Certain things you once felt comfortable doing, became uncomfortable.  Certain things you liked, you no longer find appealing.  Certain attitudes you once had, you no longer have.  Your desires have changed.  You find some things no longer hold any appeal for you.

This is the Love of God at work in YOU!  You are becoming conformed to the image of His Son.  You are becoming more like Jesus!

Ephesians 5:1-2

¹Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; ²And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.

We can do this because His love is continually changing us.  Our focus just naturally turns away from ourselves and toward others.  That is the Holy Spirit causing us to ooze the Love of God.

Romans 5:5 points to this:, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

I John 4:15-19 ¹⁵Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 

This is the promise of our regeneration, our re-creation, our being made a new creature in Christ Jesus.  This is the Good News, the Gospel.  If we believe, God lives within us, and we live within God!

¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

This is another way of saying the same thing.  We believed the love that God has for us—that great love we have been talking about all night.  And since God is love, and God lives (dwells) in us and we live in Him, Love lives in us and we live in Love!  Just as it says in Acts 17:28, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being…”

Let’s move on to verse 17.

¹⁷Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

Let’s just think about that statement for a minute.  In this, our love is made perfect. 

Romans 3:21-22a “²¹But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; ²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:”

And

II Corinthians 5:21

²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The righteousness of God is perfect.  We are that righteousness, and God is living in us and we are living in God!  Our love is made perfect.

Why?  “That we may have boldness in the day of judgment.”

We do not have to fear judgment day, so what is there to fear at all!?

Then comes the real kicker: “because as he is, so are we in this world.”  This sounds surprising, but it really shouldn’t be.  We are new creatures.  We are the righteousness of God in Christ.  He dwells in us and we dwell in Him in perfect love.  But for our flesh, we are as He is in this world.  We are overcomers!  We walk in victory!  We fear nothing!  We are blessed at all times with the abundant riches of our Father’s Kingdom!

¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love, because he first loved us.

James 2:12-13 ¹²So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

(NIV) ¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

This is where love leaves us with regard to judging.  The law we use to judge is the law of liberty; the law that gives freedom!  

Mercy triumphs over judgment.